Merkel
continues to publicly defend her "open border" immigration
policies despite continued erosion of her popularity amid rising
nationalist sentiments in Germany and across the EU. Meanwhile,
Germany is preparing to deploy troops within its borders for the
first time since World War II amid growing
fears that the potential for a large-scale terrorist attack is
"conceivable, even probable," at
least according to Lt. Gen. Martin Schelleis.

Concerns
of a potential threat come as nearly 30,000 asylum seekers continue
to flood the country each month from Syria alone (see chart below).
Overall, Germany took in about 2.1 million immigrants last year and
over half of them were refugees.

Which
has resulted in a spike in terrorist attacks....

Plans
to utilize soldiers for counter-terrorism efforts within domestic
borders is a very controversial concept for a country only seven
decades removed from totalitarian rule. Such efforts weren't
even allowed until a court decision in 2012 which expanded Article 35
of the German constitution to allow armed forces to be deployed
within domestic borders but only in response to a terrorist attack of
"catastrophic
proportions."

Per
Schelleis, German military assets are critical for providing a quick,
effective response to a large-scale terrorist attack. Per NBC:

"What
matters in a large-scale terrorist situation is that quick and
effective action is taken," he
told NBC News. "This calls for the procedures to be coordinated
and practiced."

Schelleis
added the military assistance on offer could include low-altitude
air space surveillance, checkpoints,
explosive ordnance disposal and even
advice on nuclear, biological and chemical threat situations.

"We
could also provide mobile laboratory capabilities," Schelleis
said. "Our troops are excellently trained. The same applies to
medical personnel, who are well versed in treating gunshot and burn
injuries."

That
said, with an active duty force of only 60,000 (compared to 1.4mm for
the United States) others within the German military ranks believe
that assisting with domestic operations would spread personnel to
thin.

The
country's armed forces are spread thin while fulfilling peacekeeping
missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Mali and in the the Mediterranean
Sea.

According
to the German Armed Forces Association, many
servicemen don't want to be used as "stopgaps at home."

"We
favor the planned training under the leadership of police forces in
order to assess a potential role of the armed forces in a large-scale
terror scenario," said Lt. Col. André Wuestner, the group's
head. "But
it should not be our goal to protect train stations."

Wuestner
said his counterparts in France and Belgium have warned that their
domestic security duties — such as patrolling city centers — have
kept them from training for their main responsibilities, such as
missions abroad.

We
were under the impression that Merkel's plan was simply "we can
do this"...did she mean "we can do this with the
Bundeswehr?"